People in Hong Kong march before the 23rd anniversary of the
crushing
of the
Tiananmen Square protests, May 27. For people in Hong Kong,
it is a race against the clock to bring democracy to greater China. Under
the 'One Country, Two Systems' arrangement with Britian in 1992, for 50
years, China's 'socialist system' will not be practiced in Hong Kong, and
Hong Kong's capitalist system and way of life would remain unchanged.
That period ends in 2042.
America ‘Disqualified’
as Global Human Rights Judge (Global Times, People’s Republic of China)
Is America a
serial human rights abuser? And does its human rights record disqualify it from
criticizing the human rights situation in other countries? According to this
report from China’s state-run Global Times, China has issued its own
report on the human rights situation in America that highlights its ‘dismal human
rights record, which renders it ‘a morally, politically and legally feeble
judge of global human rights.’
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announces the publication of the State Department's annual report on human rights. While regimes in North Korea and China would like America to end the practice of publishing the reports, dissidents around the world would undoubtedly dusagree.
On Friday, a day after the U.S. government issued its 36th
annual report on human rights in other countries, Beijing issued its own
report, in which China charged America’s human rights record with being
"notorious," and said Washington has no legitimacy in the role of "global
judge of human rights."
The U.S. report was
"full of overly critical remarks on human rights conditions in nearly 200
countries" and distorted the state of human rights in China, said the Human
Rights Record of the United States in 2011, released by the
Information Office of the State Council.
The report issued by China also accused Washington of
"turning a blind eye to its own woeful human rights situation."
"The U.S. report concerning
China ignores the facts, is full of prejudice and confuses black and
white," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told reporters in Beijing (watch
video below).
"Countries can discuss human rights issues to foster greater mutual
understanding, but should never use it as a tool to interfere with the internal
affairs of other countries," Hong said.
The annual Chinese report, now in its 13th year, examines
six areas: life, property and personal security, civil and political rights,
economic rights, social and cultural rights, racial discrimination, and the
rights of women and children. It also examines U.S. human rights violations in
other countries, revealing the, "accurate human rights situation in the United
States." The report urges the United States to "end its use of double
standards on the human rights issue" to "tarnish the image of other
countries and promote U.S. hegemony."
The paper found that United States authorities effectively
control violence and crime with overwhelming manpower, and material and financial
resources, but that it struggles to properly guarantee the lives, property and
security of its citizens.
Posted by Worldmeets.US
"The cases highlighted in this report are a tiny but
illustrative reflection of America’s dismal record on human rights," the
report said.
"America’s tarnished human rights record renders it a morally,
politically and legally feeble judge of global human rights," it added.
The U.S. State Department issued its report on Thursday,
accusing China of being "an authoritarian state" with a “deteriorating
human rights situation."
"Repression and coercion, particularly against
organizations and individuals involved in rights advocacy and public interest
issues, were routine," the 142-page U.S. report says of China, citing
enforced disappearances, house arrests and Internet restrictions. The domestic
police procedures of the Communist Party of China (CPC) were "opaque,"
the U.S. report said, stressing that corruption remained
"widespread."
"It is disappointing that the United States had turned
a blind eye to the progress China has made and instead registered only the
negative side of the country," Zhang Xiaoling,
director at the CPC’s Human Rights Studies Center at the Party School of the
Central Committee, told the Global Times on Friday.
"During social restructuring and at the current stage
of development, some social problems do emerge. However, China has made
remarkable progress over recent years, particularly in the realm of enhancing people's
livelihoods, alleviating poverty and improving the judicial system," Zhang
said, citing the abolishment of the death penalty for 13 crimes and the prohibition
of forced self-incrimination.
"The tone of this U.S. report was essentially the same
as previous ones. The American government knows that the report's influence is
limited and that other countries care little about it," said Zhou Wei, a
professor of law at Sichuan University.
"Those who should have a say in evaluating China’s
human rights situation in are the majority of people who live in the country,
not a handful of people who may never have been to China," Zhou said,
noting that if the situation was as dire as the report suggests, so many
foreigners wouldn't live and work here.
"There is no need to be shocked or angry about the take
of the American report on China. Differences on human rights have long been a
minor issue of Sino-U.S. relations," said NiuXinchun, a researcher from the Institute of American
Studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.
